Coronavirus Fuels Calls for Sanctions Relief on Iran, Opponents Hold Sway

As coronavirus continues to spread across the globe, the ramifications of its outbreak in the Middle East have begun to stir a policy debate in Washington. Many voices, particularly those traditionally supportive of detente with Tehran, have begun to call for sanctions relief on Iran in the name of enabling that nation to better cope with the coronavirus pandemic. Such arguments have so far had little purchase with the U.S. administration, which hold thatIran’s leadership is using the disease as a cover for profiteering and continuing to fund its regional project.
 
IRAN: A DEBATE ON SANCTIONS RELIEF
 
As Tehran watchers know well, Iranian officials lost little time in incorporating coronavirus into their case for sanctions relief. Foreign Minister Javad Zarif recently arguedin a video statement — donning a surgical mask and blue latex gloves — “We had always said the sanctions are unjust, but coronavirus revealed this injustice to the world.” He called the sanctions“economic terrorism.”
 
For his part, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders tweetedon March 31, “Coronavirus has killed 2,600 in Iran, but U.S. sanctions are obstructing medicine and aid from getting in. [To Secretary Pompeo] and [Secretary Mnuchin]: Pandemics know no borders. Let us put aside our countries' disputes and lift sanctions to reduce human suffering.” 
 
Though Sanders’ bid for the Democratic Presidential nomination appears to have waned, he continues to set the tone for policy in the more progressive reaches of the Democratic party. Within a week, several other leading Democrats adopted a similar line. Two days after Sanders called for lifting Sanctions, Senator Ed Markey announced his support, tweeting, “I’m joining @RepAOC and @SenSanders to demand the Trump administration make practical changes to its sanctions on Iran and other countries to give them a fighting chance against our shared invisible enemy: coronavirus.” Roughly a week later, Senator Chris Murphy joined in, declaring, “there's no denying Iran is a bad actor, but innocent civilians are dying there in part because our sanctions are limiting humanitarian aid during coronavirus. We need to ease them to ensure that aid gets through.”
 
OPPONENTS OF SANCTIONS RELIEF HOLD SWAY
 
To date, these arguments have made little impact upon decision-making circles in the American administration. Secretary Pompeo has remained steadfast, notingthat “the regime's concerted effort to lift U.S. sanctions isn’t about fighting the pandemic. It's about cash for the regime’s leaders.” Similarly, in the U.S. Senate, Republican Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee counteredthat “those demanding sanctions relief for Iran & Venezuela are parroting propaganda pushed by authoritarian regimes. Current sanctions do not bar humanitarian aid. [Khamenei] & [Maduro] don’t care about the survival of their citizens. They care about the survival of their regimes.”
 
In the public debate, numerous prominent voices also noted that the existing sanctions regime preserves channels for medical supplies, contrary to the claims of Zarif and others. Mark Dubowitz counters: “U.S. sanctions on Iran have always provided an exception for humanitarian aid. A recent analysisof pharmaceutical trade between Europe and Iran shows little change between 2011 and 2019 despite periods of imposition, suspension, and return of sanctions.”
 
In pushing back on the voices calling for a suspension of the “Maximum Pressure” campaign, the administration has also received backing from an unlikely source: Saeed Namaki, the Iranian minister of health. In a recent interview, Namaki warnedlawmakers that the main hindrance in combating the pandemic in Iran were subterrannean networks selling drugs on the black market, “hoarding medicines in warehouses, and distributing counterfeit drugs.” As for sanctions, Namaki notedthat Iran has “no major problem” procuring medicines from abroad.